Rotary Club of Charles City

Before 1918, Rotary International did not believe a club could be formed and thrive in a community with a population of less than 10,000 people. Charles City showed that it could, becoming the first ‘small community’ Rotary Club on October 18, 1918, and paving the way for small town Rotary clubs everywhere. Today, Charles City Rotary Club #433 is a very active part of District #5970 of Rotary International. We are an active club participating in club and community projects and events in addition to our meeting each Monday of the year (except holidays or right after special club events).

Our members are active or retired business people who meet weekly for fellowship, interesting and informative programs covering a variety of topics, and united in their commitment to make their community and world a better place to live. Rotary’s motto is ‘Service Above Self,’ which the club demonstrates through its community involvement, humanitarian service, encouragement of high ethical standards in all vocations, and work through Rotary International to help build goodwill and peace throughout the world.

In the early 1980s, Rotary International took the lead among other traditionally male service organizations by allowing women to join, an idea the club embraced, including electing Jody Meyer as its first female club president in 1992.

Every Rotarian has the privilege and obligation of seeking other qualified members. In this way, all club members can help the club achieve a full representation of the business and professional life of the community. The local club and the Charles City community served as hosts for the 1981 Rotary International District 5970 conference. The conference was held in June, and marked the first time a conference of this magnitude had been held in a city the size of Charles City. Charles City is excited to host the District Conference once again in June 2018.

Rotary is proud of its founders, its leadership through the years, and the steady growth of Rotary clubs throughout the free world. We are proud of the humble beginning with the original charter of Chicago, Number One, to our own charter Number 433, to more than 20,000 Rotary clubs worldwide with more than 1,000,000 members. The growth of Rotary in Charles City is evidence of the adherence to the original goals and ambitions of the early visionaries in Charles City and a pledge of loyalty to, and dedication to the ideal of "Service Above Self."